


He's Just a Kid

by ThisPeep



Category: Sherlock - Fandom
Genre: Age Difference, M/M, teen jim and adult seb is really important
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-13
Updated: 2014-07-13
Packaged: 2018-02-08 16:10:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1947603
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThisPeep/pseuds/ThisPeep
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He was sixteen, a criminal, and completely bored by everyone and everything- except Sebastian Moran.</p>
            </blockquote>





	He's Just a Kid

**Author's Note:**

  * For [wildeisms](https://archiveofourown.org/users/wildeisms/gifts).



Sixteen was a cruel age. All fun to be had was illegal; drinking, sex, smoking. Of course other illegal things were fun too, but those had little to do with age. He did almost all of them anyway, sixteen and already running his own little empire, on his way to much greater things. Sixteen and on the lookout for a bodyguard, fools were taking notice of him and then taking notice that he would wipe them out in a few short years, so they planned on taking him out.

Sixteen and meeting someone promising on the streets while wandering with some goons. Watching a nameless man take out a good number of opponents, and it was clear he’d defeated more before being noticed by the teenager. But alas, there were simply too many and while stronger than the rest of them, the man was overwhelmed. His display had been impressive enough that two words of mercy were spoken and he was recused, thankful until he realized that age of whom he’d been technically saved by.

Sixteen was, after all, a young age. But this particular man had leaned that judging people by first glances was one of those things that got you killed in his line of work, or got you about to be killed until a kid took pity upon you. Kid with his own minions. Who were blatantly afraid of him.

No, judging this kid by a once over and a recognition of age would be a poor choice. So when the kid asked for his name- a very polite demand, because it clearly was one- the man replied. “My name is-“

Sebastian Moran. Ex sniper in the army, dishonourable discharge how cute. Good though. Near impossibly good aim, excellent hand to hand, and now in the teenager’s debt. Sebastian almost wouldn’t have accepted the job if not for the dark, powerful gleam in said teenager’s eye and salary mentioned. Then he accepted with a sly grin, nothing compared to the leering smirk that returned it. Pride and pre-dismissed prejudice. 

The teen said his name and he turned on his heels, expensive shoes clicking, tapping, echoing along the street and Sebastian followed. Moved in with the teenager. Was pleased to find he started getting sniping jobs within the week, his skill being put to use with silent glee. And, of course, it wasn’t long before his new boss gave Sebastian the opportunity for revenge.

This woman had almost killed his tiger, he remembered. Of course he’d saved the poor sniper, and it was that excellent way he’d used to judge Sebastian’s abilities. So his tiger might want a little bit of payback. Not a sniping job, while the man loved that it would be too impersonal. 

That conclusion was how Sebastian found himself with arms slipping over his shoulders, his young boss leaning against the back of his couch and his breath playing in his ear while he informed him of his next job. Sebastian didn’t dare to move, not stand up, not shift away from the boy standing behind him, the dangerous and welcome words being murmured into his ear. His boss toyed with him constantly, pushed his buttons with precision but always to pester, anger. Never something like this, and Sebastian was left wondering how serious the teenager’s suggestiveness had been.

Not for long though, because he was getting waved out to collect his prize, bring her back, and torture her to death. She wasn’t needed, in the way of some things actually, so he could have fun. Boss’ blessing.

He decided not to watch his tiger toying with what’s-her-name, content with seeing her having been caught and knowing death would come soon, if not easy or painless. He wasn’t one for unnecessary pain, not quite yet. Not at sixteen.

When the news had been delivered, though, that the woman in question had been killed and the evidence was broadcasted on his pet’s bloody hands, well. He was one for blood. When his tiger sat down, he joined the man on the couch, resting in his lap and fingers snaking out to catch Sebastian’s wrist. He lapped gently at the proof of death coating his fingers, paying more attention to the show Sebastian had put on than the act. 

Sebastian was paying no attention to the show, eyes glued to the tongue lazily curling around his fingers, wiping blood from them and then his throat swallowing it, working to push it down and Sebastian’s imagination worked to replace the fingers with something else in his mind and the teenager gave a flash of a smirk before he sat up hands moving over Sebastian’s chest and teeth teasing his ear before the presence left, left Sebastian half breathless and wondering what game his boss was playing this time.

Some nights were like that, filled with heated undertones and Sebastian going mad, some nights his boss barely acknowledged he existed. One night he boss was trying to make himself not exist, drugs coursing through his blood and Sebastian fumbled with the forbidden phone to find someone he could call to help. And there was, doctors who worked for his boss- nowadays it seemed like everyone worked for Sebastian’s young boss one way or another- and he lived.

And some nights were like that too, afterwards. Not always him picking death, sometimes picking the comfort of alcohol or just enough drugs, yelling at Sebastian for protecting him from himself. Blaming Sebastian for various things and Sebastian wouldn’t take that, not from anyone, anyone but him. Because a few times he had given up on yelling and broken down, him ending up clutching onto Sebastian and both of them kneeling on the floor.

Sebastian didn’t understand, couldn’t understand, only knew that his sixteen year old boss was smarter than anyone Sebastian had ever met. Could take a man apart and learn every nook and cranny with a look, then say just what was needed to get what he wanted. He was danger and brilliance and tempting, always tempting and teasing Sebastian and knowing just how far to push to keep Sebastian from snapping. Not that he never got Sebastian angry, but never enough Sebastian would hurt the teenager, his boss, the boy. The child with an old man’s eyes and a legendary intellect. 

Most nights were filled with teasing, with breathed words and baiting stares, with mild insults and eye rolls. Nothing Sebastian truly cared about but everything he came to cherish because a day filled with that meant a day that wasn’t tainted by drugs and pain, days where his boss got to ignore the sorrow etched into him or at least fight it off enough that Sebastian wouldn’t notice.

But one of the evenings when he was purring again and draped over Sebastian suggestively, Sebastian gave into all the urges and kissed him, chastely, and whatever he’d been saying had died due to this stolen kiss that he followed slightly, tongue darting out to nervously dampen his lips, where there was a phantom sensation of pressure there.

Sebastian didn’t know it was nervously thought, he didn’t know that the young boy had been set on edge, that it was a new sensation to him, couldn’t be to one so learned in the ways of the world. But Sebastian did note the hesitation, the surprise that showed in the boy’s eyes as though he had never expected Sebastian to actually do anything about the constant teasing.

But after the initial pause passed he chased down Sebastian’s lips, opening his mouth slight when they connected and the next kiss was heated and almost messy, definitely rife with desire from both sides. And he was already laying on Sebastian, arms hooked around the back of his tiger’s neck, had been purring insults at Sebastian moments before with their breath mixing and it was clear, in retrospect, why Sebastian hadn’t been able to take much more finding he’d returned the attraction.

Both of them were expecting for the kiss to develop into more, for them to end up tumbling together but eventually the teenager broke it, head moving to softly rest on Sebastian’s chest, mind racing and crashing and confused because “You’re straight.”

And Sebastian was. He’d never fancied men before, or felt attraction to them in any way. He’d also never felt this way for a minor after he stopped being one, so it was apparent his boss was a rather large exception as far as Sebastian’s preferences went. Which said boss accepted as a good enough answer and then called him lovesick puppy and the banter returned, this time peppered with kisses that brought an odd blush to the boy’s cheeks and neck that Sebastian hadn’t seen before.

It was new to him. It was all new and not exactly frightening but unnerving. Disorientating. The comfort of knowing where he stood in their previous situation dissolved, becoming more equal and closer to… boyfriends, he supposed. 

It didn’t steal all his attention, though. Much of it was still focused on carefully growing his web, spreading out more connections and owning more people, collecting more deals and places and money and most of all power. His name held sway now, and fear. Some wouldn’t dare to even whisper it. Some would grit their teeth and say it like a swear, slamming a fist against the wall and praying to a god they didn’t believe in that they would be spared.

And it still wasn’t rare that his attention would fall on his life, the tediousness of it, the pointlessness, that he couldn’t find a single challenge in this world and kept scrambling for something, someone. Sebastian knew in that respect he couldn’t help, couldn’t provide the challenge but he was never short on giving comfort, and times where his boss dwelled on such things started to end more and more in him falling asleep in his tiger’s arms and less and less waking up in hospital. Chancing life, practically dating a grim reaper in his free time.

Sebastian had seen his boss when he was truly in the mode of his boss, it was coming to the point where he didn’t even threaten people he simply told them to get the job done well or to fix something that had gone wrong and you could feel the fear pouring out of them, nodding and running away like spooked rabbits. Sebastian’s boss, that sixteen-year-old boy, was the big bad wolf and Sebastian had been kindly accepted into the den.

Despite that version of him, the teenager had another version where he truly became his age. Brushes from Sebastian brought his gaze to the floor and soft smiles, and when they kissed afterwards he would always sport a pretty blush and large, innocent eyes tinged with desire. Sebastian didn’t understand why his boss never acted upon that desire, it was clear that he wanted his tiger but shied away when things got too heated, and Sebastian didn’t push when he did.

Perhaps he wished Sebastian would. But his tiger would never dare, because in comparison to that which was his boss Sebastian would be best showcased by a lion cub attempting to roar at a mildly amused dragon. It was that slight amusement that his boss always held for Sebastian that kept Sebastian alive sometimes, because sometimes his words were just the wrong side of cutting and the teenager’s eyes would flash with anger but then a pleased smirk would crawl across the face, as though he was proud of his pet for finding something that would actually strike a cord. 

Sebastian got rewarded fairly often, actually. Anywhere from choosing what movie they watched to getting some part of his bosses network to control. It all depended on the mood of the fickle criminal and what Sebastian had done.

It wasn’t always something so basic, though. Not that owning several trained professionals and multiple complex crime rings was basic, but Sebastian’s workload was always added to in small bits, taking care of what his boss considered to be basic while the teenager took care of the things that made his tiger’s head spin from his simple summaries. It was cute. Sebastian could be so delightfully clueless sometimes.

But that wasn’t the not-basic thing that took Sebastian off guard. It was his boss inviting Sebastian into his bedroom, laying down on the bed and easing his sniper over him, kissing him deeply and blushing a dark red. But when Sebastian inquired after it, the boy said it wasn’t his first time. Still he blushed and fumbled, becoming increasingly flustered as time went on but never giving so much as a hint that he wanted Sebastian to stop.

And when he felt the peak of pleasure Sebastian was sure he’d never heard a more glorious sound then that of the surprised cry that spilled from the teenager’s throat, nails digging into Sebastian back and afterwards there was a warm body curled up against his, expensive sheets laid over them both and soft, shallow breaths that implied that one of them had fallen into the comforting darkness of sleep. Sebastian followed quickly.

The next day nothing had changed. His boss wasn’t warmer, more caring, he still draped himself over Sebastian and teased him half to death, but no more or less. Sebastian almost thought he imagined the night before but then a few weeks later it reoccurred, this time with more participation from the teen and more pain and hisses from Sebastian. His boss, it appeared, was a bit of a sadist.

Sebastian found himself very much so not minding.

He also ended up getting his, well, young lover now he supposed- a cat. Said young lover had given up the night before, come home pissed drunk and murmuring confessions that broke Sebastian’s heart, about how he couldn’t stand living and everything was too easy, how he had to constantly distract himself lest he remember how painful it all was. He was drunk, open, honest, and one Sebastian away from killing himself. Luckily the Sebastian stayed close, fighting back tears and holding onto his boss because no one was more important and he doubted anyone was in more pain than the boy he loved.

So terribly clever and so unable to breathe in the waters of the world, people and voids pouring into his lungs and it made sense that he wanted to burn everything, just to get second of air before water was replaced by smoke and he started to choke again.

Sebastian made a mistake though, he told the boy that he loved him. And he got mad, furious, tears pouring down his cheeks and yelling in foreign tongues, nothing Sebastian understood but recognized to be Gaelic, remembering some of the words or sounds being murmured or called out by the teenager in extreme bouts of sadness, exhaustion, or pleasure. Some of what he said was in English though, enough that Sebastian understood his boss didn’t believe he could be loved, deserved to be loved, was royally annoyed that Sebastian loved him because that wasn’t allowed and couldn’t be true because he did nothing but insult Sebastian and use him and cry on him and push him away at every opportunity. Sebastian stated he didn’t care and got a slap for his words, which then turned into angry sex wherein his boss truly let the newly discovered sadist in him come out to play.

So, obviously, Sebastian bought him a cat. Older than a kitten, not quite fully grown, looked mischievous and like a handful. His boss and the cat therefore got along swimmingly, and it appeared Sebastian’s sins of love had been absolved through the present.

The teenager- almost adult, now, as he idly corrected Sebastian when he had said ‘sixteen’ to say he was actually seventeen, and expanded upon the information when asked to, informing Sebastian his birthday was a month ago and simply being confused as to why his tiger was upset he hadn’t told him before, because it was just another day that marked how long he had lived and not much had changed from the day before, so really there was no reason to celebrate.

It took a while, a lot of coaxing and inching forward slowly, trying not to push too much but knowing he has to try, but the boy finally told him why he didn't like Sebastian’s love. The teenager said in with careful words, eyes locked with Sebastian’s and using that gaze that takes him apart into little pieces, turning and twisting and displaying themselves in the light of his boss’ mind, nothing able to hide and all shadows erased. The one that sears Sebastian and makes him remember just how different his lover is from everyone else, how disconnected he must feel because no one can do that.

His lover said that Sebastian couldn't love him, “Because it’ll end up hurting you.” He said, “I’m going to die, at some point, in a week or year or decade. I know I will, before you do, because you’re strong, Bastian. I’m not. One day I’m going to kill myself and if you love me you’ll cry.” And he added that he doesn’t want to see his tiger cry, maybe, just… maybe because, “I might love you, too.”

It’s a painful declaration if Sebastian ever heard one, but he said he doesn’t care if he hurts later because of it. Sebastian said that he’d rather be a fool for love now and be in pain later than be in pain because he’s not allowed to love his boss and then just be in even more pain when—when his boss is gone.

Thankfully, after thinking it over, his lover accepted that argument as valid and snuggled into Sebastian. Soon they were teasing each other relentlessly and it was much more comfortable for the young boy like that, emotions pushed away in favor of the mask of being above them, pushed away for comfort, pushed away so the teenager didn’t have to deal with the love and pain and the extremes of his mind, because chasing after emotions made them harder to define and more intense and not there and everything felt like a lie and at seventeen he couldn’t handle that.

He could barely handle it when his tiger sent him a fond look, the love in his eyes burning his skin and making him need to shy away but he knew he sometimes gave those same looks back which didn’t hurt quite as much because he was allowed to have emotions—always did, always ignored, but people only feared him. Loathed him. Pitied him. Didn’t care about him; shoot him those raw looks.

So Sebastian had discovered his boss fought back against them by annoying his tiger, sending the cat looks and then a vase would fall on Sebastian’s foot and he’d receive twin looks of innocence from the teenager and the cat. He rather liked it, young male cat he’d ended up naming Saracen. They seemed to both enjoy silently plotting together to annoy Sebastian almost constantly.

It was both terribly infuriating and reliving at the same time. His boss was still, and probably forever would be, a prick that took nigh on every opportunity to tick Sebastian right off. One time in particular the teenager had pushed to hard, his tiger had reacted violently (discovering, in the process, that his boss was significantly stronger than he looked and quite able to hold his own in a fight, even at such a young age), and it appeared that the criminal had a fair amount of masochist in him, too.

And while it couldn’t be said that their relationship was healthy before, it got even less so after that and less again as the teenager grew into a young man (never telling Sebastian when his birthday actually way, but always correcting Sebastian after it was apparent he said the wrong age). Mentally, neither of them was sound although they both dealt with that just fine, bonding over killing and celebrating St. Valentine by picking off sappy couples and having a Christmas party while on some varying mix of drugs. (They woke up with no memory and a few dead bodies surrounding them, had great fun suggesting what they had done the night before until the thoughts swirling in their heads make the teenager pounce on Sebastian, and then they had more fun for a while.) 

And they hurt each other, often. Purposely bugged the other until he lashed out, and small brawls would ensue although they rarely ended as fights. Their relationship was mutually abusive, and they both enjoyed that greatly. Not, as stated before, exactly healthy but it was a relationship they both liked and was suited to two people like them.

Sebastian did end up figuring out his boss’ birthday (it took a few years to get it narrowed down to a day) but never celebrated it, not changing his behavior in any way just happy with the knowledge he knew when it was. (His boss knew when Sebastian’s birthday was too, he had simply asked, and that was celebrated every year although it was rare Sebastian remembered what happened. They usually ended up finding via the local news.)

Mostly importantly, however, Sebastian kept a ring on him. A simple thing; silver band with black details on it. In his pocket, sniper case, sometimes he wore it but those times were few and far apart. His boss had one too, identical in design, also rarely worn but kept close at all times. He often fiddled with it when Sebastian was away and took comfort from it, looked at it carefully and pondered (again) if it should have diamonds on it, instead of being a relatively cheap ring- he and his tiger could clearly afford something more expensive, but it always seemed best that it was so simple. Despite the winding, curling black swirls and gears that ran throughout it, making the ring appear confusing and dark, it was still basic. A silver band, with some black.

Seemed to do a good job of describing his and Sebastian’s marriage after all. He would turn the ring around, looking at the cursive engraving on the inside and remembering the promise Sebastian had made him and the one he’d returned. _Jim Moriarty, my love until the day I die. –SM_

**Author's Note:**

> Age gap mormor @_@


End file.
